Nottinghamshire County Council has confirmed that no decision has been made to sell its County Hall building as some criticised rumours of flats being based there as "inappropriate". The authority has been reviewing its whole estate as part of plans to save millions of pounds on buildings.
This work has already seen the number of county council buildings being cut down from 17 to nine. The outcome of a review on the future of the remaining buildings has now recommended that the council should look for further efficiencies, with a final decision expected by March.
But at a meeting of the council's overview committee today (January 24), some councillors said that there had already been speculation from senior members of the council on County Hall's future which was "just not right." Councillors referred to comments by both Keith Girling and Ben Bradley.
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The former, who is the council's portfolio holder for economic development, has said luxury flats, bars and restaurants would regenerate County Hall. Councillor Bradley, the leader of Nottinghamshire County Council, has said he expects the authority will vacate at least part of the building.
County Hall was built in West Bridgford in the 1930s, with the county council estimating that it would cost around £50million to bring it up to modern standards. Cllr Keith Girling has also said that the authority could relocate some of its operations to a new building on the Top Wighay development.
But speaking at the meeting, Liberal Democrat member Cllr Steve Carr said: "It really does not help when the leader of the council and the portfolio holder appear on media virtually announcing the demise of County Hall, being turned into restaurants and luxury flats, before this committee has even sat down to discuss the outcome of the report. It's just not right that this is pre-empted in this way.
"Pre-empting and agreeing to interviews on the media before recommendations are made is totally and utterly inappropriate. How can we have confidence in scrutiny on this subject when it would appear that the decision has already been made?"
Cllr Kate Foale, the leader of the Labour group at the county council, echoed concerns by saying: "Can we be absolutely sure that there are no plans firmed up to sell County Hall? What is in this report, which is entirely reasonable and which we're entirely happy to work with, is quite different from what some of your members are saying both publicly and privately.
"It is happening on a regular basis, your members are telling some of our staff and some of our public that County Hall is to be sold. So can we please have a public assurance that this has not been agreed."
Cllr Keith Girling reassured councillors at the meeting by saying: "This is the start and there are other properties that we'll be looking at to make sure that we've got an efficient council moving forward in terms of our estate. It's not just about saving money, but we all know people don't like change.
"It's really important we take people on the journey now so that when we do make a decision, people are in the right frame of mind. I've confirmed now that there has been no decision made and we will be working on robust business cases.
"I've been quoted as saying 'wouldn't it be nice if we had flats here and shops beneath'. When I wanted to buy my new car, I had to go for a business case to see that I could actually afford to do it and that it was the right thing for me to do.
"That is what we will be doing over the next steps, so we have not pre-determined anything. We'll make sure that what we do is good for the staff, good for the services and good for the planet."
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